Patch Notes: Commander 1.1.7.4.f187636 (19/12/18)

Greetings Skyfarers. This is our last Early Access update before launch in January. We're now entering a busy period of polish and bug fixing in the run up to launch. There are several things you can do to help us between now and the big day.

Wishlist the game to help us get noticed

Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates. We’ve got a lot of different things for you to get involved in leading up to the big day

If you’re currently playing then please consider leaving a review. We want honest, constructive feedback, and of course revisiting your review once we leave Early Access is always helpful

Continue to be patient with us. There are a lot of outstanding bugs and we need to knuckle down now and fix these before launch

If you find a bug, please take time to read the Known Issues list before sending a report in to us (this will be fully updated by the end of the day). We don't list every single bug in game for multiple reasons, but the vast majority of issues you may encounter are listed. Responding to tickets about known bugs is a huge drain on the resources of our small team. Similarly, please take the time to read the Bug Reporting page so you know what information to include in your reports.

Finally, a massive thank you to all our Early Access players who have helped us with feedback and bugs, especially those who do read the Known Issues and Bug Reporting pages. Special shout outs to those who have been tireless in their typo hunting efforts too. You know who you are.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION - PLEASE READ!Before we delve into the details of new features, there are a couple of important things we need our player base to be aware of:

A small feature has been introduced to the build ahead of its scheduled time. The Tower of Chimes Wonder is now interactable (like Regent’s Grave), but the content for it is not ready just yet. If you pass over it then you’ll see an interface pop up warning you that you are not eligible for the event. Unfortunately this will lock up your UI, but there is a workaround. Simply dock at a Station and play through any branch to unlock the UI.

After using a Transit Relay, you now have to press R to undock yourself before you can move away. At the moment this is not very intuitive as the prompt will say ‘Interact’. The same applies if you close the Storylet after interacting with a Transit Relay and deciding to remain in your current region. While Transit Relays look like regular docks, they actually function differently. We had to make some recent changes in order to take account of the new docking mechanics, but we need more time to implement a proper solution to the Transit Relays.

There are quite a lot of outstanding minor interface bugs, and a large number related to controller support. Redesigning the UI was a massive undertaking. While it might look like we just moved things around and made them look pretty, there’s actually a lot of functionality changes under the hood. We’ve caught a huge amount of game breaking issues that resulted from the rework, but the sheer volume of new issues has meant that a lot have had to be pushed back into the polish phase that we are now entering. If experiencing bugs frustrates you then we encourage you to either defer playing until launch or to stick to mouse controls for now.

We highly recommend restoring default controls from the Options menu. This will allow you to get the latest changes to the controls (which don’t update automatically with each new build), particularly for controllers. If you then wish to alter them to your previous/preferred settings you can do so.

Now for the new stuff…

What’s New

Complete UI redesignOur user interface has been completely reworked and it's not just a visual change, there are some pretty big functional changes too which we will details below.

Storylets

We’re famous for our writing, so our stories need to be easy to read and the main focus on the screen. Because of this Storylets now open in the centre panel.

Within Storylets, the branch results remain on the page and scroll upwards before revealing the next set of choices available to you. This will allow you to look back on the decisions you've made and their outcomes.

Locked branches are more easy to spot with their muted titles and quality requirement icons.

The port index UI which displayed on the right of the screen when docking is now incorporated into the Storylet panel - mouse over the Storylet ambience artwork and the list will appear - you can switch between Stories and Shops and then select a relevant area to explore.

While you can still grab and drag the Storylet interface with the mouse in order to navigate up and down, we’ve also added proper scroll bars which are much wider and easier to select.

Side Panels

The icons for the side panels have moved to the right of the screen and the interfaces themselves now open on the right. When opened at the same time as a centre panel, they bump it over to the left slightly.

You can no longer open two side panels at the same time as there is no functional need for this. The panels are easy to flick between using the icons or the arrows at the top of the panel.

The Hold interface has been split in two, you can switch between the Hold and your Possessions via the buttons at the top of this panel. Collectively they make up your Inventory.

Sovereigns are now shown in the Hold rather than the Possessions (they are also shown on shop and bazaar interfaces).

The functionality of all other sidebar panels (Profile, Journal, Officers) remains the same.

You can now drag equipment into slots on your locomotive.

Goods now stack in the Hold.

Engine yards

Engine yards have had a makeover to make the information they contain easier to process. All locomotive stats, including slot details, are now listed along with details of how your current stats will be affected if you trade in.

Banks

The bank interface now shows your Hold inventory and your bank storage side by side.

Equipment no longer stacks in the bank, but this is a temporary solution to problems encountered with the redesign and will be reverted on launch.

Bazaar

The bazaar remains mostly unchanged though prospects no longer disappear immediately after they are claimed.

The bazaar interface now shows the number of days until prospects or bargains renew at a particular Station.

Shops

If you have unlocked the Bank, you can now purchase items from shops directly into your bank storage. You can also sell items directly from your bank too.

You can now purchase different types of items from shops at the same time.

You can no longer purchase more items than have room for in your Hold from shops.

HUD

The Officer and Survival HUD have been jazzed up, along with the heat bar and side panel bar.

The Terror bar on the Survival HUD no longer indicates varying rates of Terror gain. This will be fixed for launch.

Weapons do not fire when the cursor is over the an interface, including the heat bar. Keep this in mind if your weapons appear not to work (an exception are the rockets and the Wrath of Heaven which will be fixed in the next update).

Graphics settings

Now the final UI is in place we have made the decision to support a 16:9 aspect ratio only, so now the only resolutions available in game are those that support 16:9. We understand some players will be disappointed we are not supporting 5:4, 4:3, 3:2 etc, but we need to maintain a consistent look and experience over all our interfaces which we simply couldn’t do across varying aspect ratios. If your monitor does not support resolutions with a 16:9 aspect ratio then you’ll need to play in windowed mode, rather than full screen to avoid issues with the UI. Alternatively, change the settings on your graphics cards to allow scaling. This will add black bars to the game but will allow you to enjoy it in full screen mode.

For the same reason, we’ve removed the option to scale the UI independently. It now scales automatically with your resolution.

4k monitors are now supported.

We’ve removed the option to adjust Font size independently via a sliding scale. Instead we now offer two font size options Standard and Large. We are aware of several places where the font either does not scale or it overflows interfaces on set to Large. We are working to resolve all cases where this occurs in time for launch.

Other UI changes

New title screen.

New loading screen.

The Death and Legacy screen have been spruced up.

What’s not been updatedImplementing the new UI was a much bigger job than we had anticipated so we had to descope the interface updates for the Commander release. Here’s a list of things that we’ve not updated.

Character Creation.

Character Progression.

The Chart.

Various buttons such as those on the jettison interface.

The Date is still not present on any of the interfaces - be patient, it’s coming.

Docking ReworkDocking is no longer automatic but activated by a prompt [R] - you will need to ensure your steering is good and you come in at the right angle. Once activated your locomotive will be pulled in and the Station’s Storylet will open automatically.

The port index UI which previously displayed on the right of the screen when docking is now incorporated into the Storylet panel - mouse over the Storylet ambience artwork and the list will appear - you can switch between Stories and Shops and then select a relevant area to explore.

Closing the Station’s slet will not undock you, you need to press R again to undock (or W to move forward and break the docking clamps). If you accidentally close the slet but want to access it again, you will need to undock and redock. This is not particularly user friendly at the moment and we have plans to alter this in future.

While Agents can still enter docks at the moment, if you kill them while they are in dock their loot drops are now accessible. Agents will also zero their wrath once you are docked, meaning no more death at Stations.

SmugglingSpeak to the Gloomy Middleman at London to begin a quest to unlock Smuggling. This is mid game content and you’ll either need Veils at 40 or Villainy at 3 to access it.

Once the quest is complete you’ll be able to start smuggling contraband between regions by picking up special smuggling prospects at select Stations and Platforms. While you can have a maximum of four regular prospects, you can only have up to two smuggling prospects on the go. These take up regular prospect slots in your Hold, so while you can have a combination of regular and smuggling, you can only take on a total of four prospects at any one time.

Contraband can be sourced from smuggling shops found at the same Stations and Platforms where you obtain smuggling prospects, and occasionally from Agent loot drops. The new contraband items are:

Firkin of Red Honey (produced in the Reach).

Hogshead of Starshine (sourced in Eleutheria).

Trunk of Illicit Literature (acquired in Albion).

Selling a contraband item from the region from which it is sourced will result in a substantial loss of Sovereigns. Selling them in other regions will result in a small profit, but prospects are where the real money is to be made.

Each unit of contraband you carry increases a quality called Contraband (found in the Possessions interface under Smuggling) and takes up hold space. Stashing them openly in your Hold makes them rather easy to spot by customs, who will promptly confiscate them. However, equipment is available to help with this.

There are now seven pieces of locomotive equipment in game (some new, some existing) which grant the Hidden Compartments quality. When you have this quality a new bar will appear on your Hold underneath the Hold capacity bar. This quality does not increase your maximum Hold space, but it does provide secret places in which to stash your illegal goods. If your Contraband quality is higher than your Hidden Compartments quality then you are more likely to have items seized by the Revenue Man. If Contraband is lower than Hidden Compartments then your captain may be particularly savvy at finding ways to sneak things through customs.

Be warned, smuggling can be a very dangerous business. If you are caught by customs one too many times you will be arrested, and smuggling trials often have fatal consequences for unlucky Sky Captains.

New WeaponsThe last of the weapons have finally arrived; rockets, mines and exotics.

MinesMines are explosive charges that you can deploy behind your locomotive. Wit & Vinegar manufacture two variants, the ‘Sneeze-Lurker’ and the ‘Zounderkite’.

Both mines have slight arcing abilities and will detonate when they collide with something or when something enters their proximity zone, including you, so be careful when deploying them. Mines deal both collision and blast damage so really pack a punch.

RocketsPortsmouth House have created two rockets, the ‘Albertine Candle’ and ‘Her Renewed Majesty’s Jubilee’. Both are large weapons which can only be equipped to large armament slots on certain ships (Parsival, Agravain, Altani, Moloch, Medea).

Once deployed you can either let the rockets reach their destination, or set the them off early by pressing the fire button again. Like the mines, the rockets deal blast and collision damage and the Jubilee also arcs towards enemies.

ExoticsExotic weapons are obtained from rare loot drops of specific agents. All but the Mangonel are large weapons so will need to be fitted to a large armament slot. The exotic weapons are:

Reclaimed Marauder Mangonel - obtained from Reach Marauders.

The Uninvited - acquired from The Guests.

The Tears of Astolat - found by defeating Deranged Dreadnoughts.

The Wrath of Heaven - sourced from Scorn Flukes.

Details of tier, slot and quality requirements for all weapons and equipment can now be found on their tooltips. Weapon tooltips also detail damage, range and heat values. Rockets, mines and The Wrath of Heaven all deal blast damage on top of collision damage, however this is not yet reflected on their tooltips.

Updates

The Phlegmatic Researcher’s quest at Leadbeater and Stainrod have been reworked and now offer higher rewards.

Goods (and Contraband) now stack in the Hold.

Item weights are now shown on tooltips.

Several pieces of locomotive equipment have moved to different shops.

The Golgonooza and Saintfire are now large weapons.

There are two new pieces of equipment: Concealed Cavities and Hidden Hold. Both grant the Hidden Compartments which aid smuggling.

The Pluto Miniature Law-Furnace, Wit & Vinegar Hewing & Sawing Device, Armoire of Mr Gray, Expansive Wardrobe and Contentable Cabins now grant Hidden Compartments, but have also had their other stats adjusted to compensate. You may find your Quarters or Hold slightly lower the next time you log in.

Armoire of Mr Gray and the Expansive Wardrobe have been renamed to Mechanical Turk and Cabinet of Curiosities respectively.

Known IssuesAs mentioned above there are a lot of outstanding bugs in this build related to the new features, particularly those related to controller support. Please see our Known Issues page for the full list.

You now lose Crew on a narrow success of Deranged Dreadnought loot Storylet rather than gain it.

The Crown & Misery Pneumatic Mining Array now has the correct colour icon for its tier.

All branch results at the Albion-Reach Transit Relay now move you to the Reach.

The Main Menu no longer displays over the top of the Facet UI.

The Main Menu can no longer be accessed while the loading screen is displayed.

You can no longer hear engine strafe/turn noises when pressing A, D, Q or E in dock.

The camera no longer snaps to the centre of the screen when starting a new game or passing on a legacy.

You will no longer see erroneous text when moving between shops.

Highlighting is now consistent across all side bar interfaces.

The auto-docking sequence now completes before Must Events fire.

Quality quantity numbers are now consistent throughout all interfaces.

The minus sign next to Sovereigns in the Bazaar interface no longer changes to a plus sign when purchasing Bargains.

We fixed an issue where the text in Journal could become misaligned when expanding and contracting the Journal entries.

The navigation panels will no longer become stuck in the middle of the screen.

Terror gained in Storylets now displays on the HUD immediately.

We've fixed an issue with blurry text on the Storylet panel.

The Storylet ambience will no longer remain on screen when returning to the title screen.

The Port index UI no longer remains on screen when exiting a dock.

We have the fixed the graphical flickering on interfaces seen when changing the UI scale. If you see any further instances of this then please send us a report and let us know the resolution you are using.

Hull is once again updated immediately on the HUD when making repairs via Storylets.